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Pari Khan Khanum: A Masterful Safavid Princess

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Shohreh Gholsorkhi
Shohreh Gholsorkhi*
Affiliation:
Near Eastern Studies Department, Princeton University
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Extract

The Royal Harem is Perhaps One of the Most Misunderstood Institutions of the Perso-Islamic social order. The myths surrounding the harem originated primarily in the West, fomented to a great extent by European travelers over a period of several centuries. As is well known, the Islamic empires, at their zenith (beginning around A.D. 1500), attracted numerous European merchants and traders, as well as assorted adventurers, emissaries, and missionaries. Many of them took up residence in these countries, some for a short time, some for many years. They toured cities, saw the countryside and became acquainted with the local people. In several instances, some made their way into the royal courts. Many of these travelers kept extensive notes about their journeys and left careful sketches of the various aspects of the society with which they came in contact. Often, upon their return home, many made their narratives available at court and sometimes to the public.

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Iranian Studies , Volume 28 , Issue 3-4 , Summer Fall 1995, pp. 143 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1995

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Footnotes

*

The present paper is part of a larger study on the lives and status of women in the Safavid court. I would like to thank Professor Michel M. Mazzaoui of the University of Utah for commenting on this paper.

References

1. Penzer, N. M., The Harem (London, 1965), 14Google Scholar.

2. The majority of the chronicles dealing with the harem were written by court historians or others closely associated with the court and contained mainly state matters that would be of interest to the king.

3. Peirce, Leslie P., The Imperial Harem (Oxford University Press, 1993), 12Google Scholar.

4. Minorsky, V., Tadhkirat al-Mulūk: A Manual of the Safavid Administration (London, 1943), 23Google Scholar.

5. Maria Szuppe's recent article seems to be the. only extensive study on this subject. See “La Participation des femmes de la famille royale à 1'exercice du pouvoir en Iran safavide au MVP siècle,” Studia Iranica 23 (1994): 211–58 and 24 (1995): 61–122.

6. See, for example, Qazvini, Abu al-Hasan, Fawā'id al-Ṣafawīyah, ed. Ahmadi, Maryam Mir (Tehran, 1367 Sh./1988), 33Google Scholar; Shirazi, ‘Abdi Beg, Takmīlāt al-akhbār, ed. Nava'i, ‘Abd al-Husayn (Tehran, 1369 Sh./1990), 125Google Scholar, fn. In her work on the early Safavids, Erika Glassen erroneously states that Shirazi dedicated his work to Khanum, Pari Khan, the “sister” of Tahmasb, Shah (Die Friihen Safawiden nach Qazi Ahmad Qumi [Freiburg, 1968], 16)Google Scholar.

7. See Rumlu, Hasan Beg, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, ed. Nava'i, ‘Abd al-Husayn (Tehran 1349 Sh./1970), 239Google Scholar; Qummi, Qazi Ahmad, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh, 2 vols., ed. Ishraqi, Ihsan (Tehran 1363 Sh./1984), 1:454Google Scholar; Shirazi, Takmīlāt, 91; Astarabadi, Hasan b. Murtaza Husayni, Az Shaykh Ṣafi tā Shāh Ṣafī, ed. Ishraqi, Ihsan (Tehran 1364 Sh./ 1985), 33Google Scholar; and Isfahani, Muhammad Yusuf Valih, Khuld-i barīn, ed. Muhaddis, Mir Hashim (Tehran 1372 Sh./1993), 304Google Scholar.

8. According to a majority of our sources, Pari Khan Khanum was the favorite daughter of Tahmasb. See, for example, Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 1:397.

9. See Shirazi, Takmīlāt, 99; Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 1:337. On the Circassians s.v. EI2: “Çerkes.” On Sulayman Mirza see Ghaffari, Qazi Ahmad Qazvini, Tārīkh-i jahān-ārā, ed. Minuvi, Mujtaba (Tehran, 1343 Sh./1964), 297Google Scholar. Even though Sulayman Mirza supported Isma'il II's accession, he was later murdered on the latter's orders.

10. The words ‘aqd and ma ‘qūd are used here. See Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 1:397, 610. On Badi’ al-Zaman see Kitabdar, Sadiqi, Tadhkirah-yi majma’ al-khawāṣṣ, trans. Khayyampur, ‘Abd al-Rasul (Tabriz, 1327 Sh./1948), 27Google Scholar.

11. See Munshi, Iskandar Beg, Tārīkh-i ‘ālam-ārā-yi ‘Abbāsī, 2 vols., ed. Afshar, Iraj (Tehran, 1350 Sh./1971), 1:135Google Scholar; Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 403; Astarabadi, Az Shaykh Ṣafī, 55.

12. Nasr Allah Falsafī contends that Shah Tahmasb was so fond of Pari Khan Khanum that he did not want to marry her off (Zindagī-yi Shāh ‘Abbās-i avval, 3 vols. [Tehran, 1344 Sh./1965], 1:15).

13. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:150; Muhammad Afushtah Natanzi, Naqāwat al-āthār fī dhikr al-akhyār, ed. Ihsan Ishraqi (Tehran, 1350 Sh./1971), 46; Qummi, Khulāṣat altawārīkh 2:644; Mulla Jalal al-Din Munajjim, Tārīkh-i ‘Abbāsī yā rūznāmah-yi Mullā Jalāl (Tehran, 1366 Sh./1987), 36. Some sources contend that Badi’ al-Zaman was only blinded. See Astarabadi, Az Shaykh Ṣafi, 97.

14. See Natanzi, Naqṣwat, 70.

15. Ibid.

16. Shirazi's Takmīlāt seems to be the only extant treatise dedicated to Pari Khan Khanum.

17. Natanzi, Naqāwat, 71. On ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 898/1492) see Browne, E. G., A Literary History of Persia, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1920), 3:507–548Google Scholar.

18. The only exception was Sultan Hamzah Mirza, to whom Kashani dedicated eight poems. See Dīvān-i Mawlānā Muḥtasham Kāshānī, ed. Muhammad ‘Ali Gurgani (Tehran, 1365 Sh./1986).

19. Natanzi, Naqāwat, 71.

20. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:119–21. On the Qizilbash see Savory, Roger, “The Qizilbash Education and the Arts,” in Studies on the History of Safawid Iran, Variorum Reprints (London, 1987), 168–78Google Scholar. On their decline see Babayan, Kathryn, “The Waning of the Qizilbash: The Spiritual and the Temporal in Seventeenth-Century Iran” (unpublished Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1993Google Scholar).

21. On the fortress of Qahqahah see Ishraqi, Ihsan, “Chashm-andāzī bi qal'ahhā-yi Iṣṭakhr va Qahqahah dar rūzgar-i Ṣafavīyah,” Hunar va mardum 12, no. 142 (1353 Sh./ 1974): 16–23Google Scholar. There are discrepancies among the Safavid sources in the number and order of Tahmasb's sons. Munshi, for example, in one place mentions Sulayman Mirza as the younger brother of Isma'il, but later refers to him as his older brother ('Alam-ārā 1:119, 132–33, 201). See also Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 636–67; Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 1:609; Munajjim, Tārīkh-i ‘Abbāsī, 25; Vali Quli Shamlu, Qiṣaṣ al-khāqānī, ed. Sayyid Hasan Sadat Nasiri (Tehran, 1371 Sh./1992), 95; Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 382, 400–401.

22. According to one theory, Muhammad Mirza was known as Khudabandah because he spent numerous hours in prayer.

23. Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:120.

24. As we shall see, immediately after the death of Tahmasb, Haydar Mirza presented a decree by his father that named him successor. The authenticity of this document, however, was immediately challenged. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:193; Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 602; Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 490–91.

25. Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārāl:122; Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 601; Natanzi, Naqāwat, 19; Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 390–91.

26. The succession rivalry after the death of Tahmasb is well documented in the Safavid chronicles. See, for example, Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Sharafnāmah-yi Bidlīsī (St. Petersburg, 1827), 247–48; Natanzi, Naqāwat, 19–23; Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:192–916; Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 489–501.

27. Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā; Roger Savory's English translation, History of Shah ‘Abbas the Great, 2 vols. (Boulder, 1978), 1:284Google Scholar.

28. Ibid. 1:283–84.

29. Ibid. 1:291; also, Natanzi, Naqāwat, 71–72.

30. An unregal public gesture by Tahmasb. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-dra 1:132. Savory's translation of this passage (History 1:214) does not correspond to the Persian text.

31. Munshi alludes to the animosity between the two women as the cause of Pari Khan Khanum's opposition to Haydar's accession ﹛'Ālam-ara 1:119; see also Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 383).

32. Apparently, even after he left Qahqahah, Isma'il foiled an assassination plot against him. See Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 2:615. On Isma'il's trek from Qahqahah to Qazvin, see ibid. 1:600–609 and 2:615–21; Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 600–615; Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:199–201; Shamlu, Qiṣaṣ, 97–98.

33. See Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 520.

34. Savory, History 1:292; Natanzi, Naqāwat, 71.

35. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:201; Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 519.

36. Savory, History 1:298.

37. See Valih Isfahani, Khuld-i barīn, 521.

38. On why Isma'il was sent to Qahqahah see Ghplsorkhi, S., “Isma'il II and Mirza Makhdum Sharifī: An Interlude in Safavid History,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 26 (1994): 477–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

39. Savory, History 1:298.

40. For the names of some of the Safavid princes who were executed see Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:208–212; Rumlu, Ahsan al-tawārīkh, 629 ff.; Bidlisi, Sharafnāmah, 252–53.

41. On Isma'il's “just” conduct see Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 623. Michel Mazzaoui seems to find some justification for Isma'il's acts of violence against the members of his family. See his “The Religious Policy of Safavid Shah Isma'il II,” in Mazzaoui, Michel M. and Moreen, Vera B., eds., Intellectual Studies on Islam (University of Utah Press, 1990), 54–55Google Scholar.

42. Savory, History 1:312. Astarabadi confuses Pari Khan Khanum with Isma'il II and Muhammad Mirza's mother (Az Shaykh Ṣafi, 102).

43. Natanzi, Naqāwat, 38, 42.

44. On the relationship between Isma'il II and Sharifi see Gholsorkhi, “Isma'il II and Mirza Makhdum.” Sharifi shared the office of ṣadr with Shah ‘Inayat Allah Naqib; see Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:207.

45. Some Persian sources give credit to Pari Khan Khanum for Sharifi's release from jail. Sharifi, however, mentions others as responsible for his release. See Gholsorkhi, “Isma'il II and Mirza Makhdum.“

46. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:201–202. Savory's translation of this passage does not correspond to the Persian text (History 1:298–99).

47. Savory, History 1:301.

48. Savory's translation of this passage does not correspond to the Persian text. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā. 1:205; Savory, History 1:306. Curiously enough, Isma'il asked Shamkhal Khan, the loyal uncle of Pari Khan Khanum and Sulayman Mirza, to murder the Safavid prince. See Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:205–206.

49. Savory, History, 327. The following historians have also implicated Pari Khan Khanum as a master planner or they have alluded to her participation in the plot to murder Isma'il II: Bidlisi, Sharafnāmah, 254; Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 647; Astarabadi,’ Az Shaykh 𞘠afi, 101.

50. Munajjim, Tārīkh-i ‘Abbāsī, 38.

51. See Natanzi, Naqāwat, 62.

52. Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:220.

53. Savory, History 1:329.

54. Ibid. 1:333.

55. Ibid.

56. Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 2:657; Astarabadi, Az Shaykh Ṣafī, 102–103; Natanzi, Naqāwat, 72.

57. Savory, History 1:329.

58. Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 1:657.

59. Savory, History 1:334.

60. Qummi, Khulāṣat al-tawārīkh 1:659–60.

61. There are some indications that Pari Khan Khanum and Shamkhal Khan were involved in some sort of coup d'etat against Sultan Muhammad Khudabandah. See, for example, Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 653–55; Astarabadi, Az Shaykh Ṣafī, 103; Natanzi, Naqāwat, 72.

62. Savory, History 1:327.

63. Ibid. 1:337.

64. For a slightly different version of Pari Khan Khanum's murder see Rumlu, Aḥsan al-tawārīkh, 655.

65. Pari Khan Khanum's wealth was estimated at 10,000 tūmāns by Munshi, but Savory's translation gives her wealth as only 2,000 tūmāns. Compare Munshi, ‘Ālam-ārā 1:226 and Savory, History 1:337.

66. The author of Don Juan of Persia contends that Pari Khan Khanum's head was hung from the gates of the capital. None of the Persian sources, however, contains such a graphic description of her murder. See Bayat, Uruch Bei, Don Juan of Persia, trans. Strange, Guy le (New York, 1973), 135Google Scholar.

67. There are several references to Pari Khan Khanum in non-Persian sources as well. For example, see anon., A Chronicle of the Carmelites in Persia, 2 vols. (London, 1939), 1:57–59Google Scholar; A Narrative of Italian Travels in Persia in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, trans. Charles Grey, Hakluyt Society (London, 1873), no. 49, xvii; Bayat, Don Juan, 129–35. Interestingly, a well-known Ottoman writer of the midnineteenth century, Namik Kemal, wrote a historical novel with Pari Khan Khanum as a major character. See Kemal, Namik, Cezmi (Istanbul, 1971)Google Scholar.

68. See Riza Quli Khan Hidayat, Rawżat al-ṣafā-yi Nāṣirī, 10 vols. (Tehran 1339 Sh. /1960), 8:174; Khan, Mirza ‘Abd al-Husayn, Kitāb-i maṭraḥ al-anẓār (Tabriz, 1334 Sh. /1955), 164Google Scholar.